Life is but a resource

Welcome once again to read my blog from the ninja with honor! Question: Do ninjas really have any honor? Anyway, today's topic is about life in Dice Masters. As everybody who has played the game knows, each person starts with 20 life. The goal, of course, is to get your opponent's life to 0, but what about using your own life as a resource? Thinking on this topic, I remembered when I was first learning to play Hearthstone on the PC (blasphemous, right?). When I was learning, it was mentioned in some videos that life is but a resource. My first thought was a thought of confusion. Why in the world would you hit your own life total? Next was a thought that the author of the video was dumb. After my initial knee-jerk reactions, the reality set in. The video was right. I can use my life as a resource to win.

This concept applies to Dice Masters as well. However, in order to use it effectively, you must play smart. By that, I mean don't sit there and ping yourself to one life and lose to a sidekick or Red Dragon Global (RDG). No, in order to do this, and do it well, playing smart is key. I'm going to bring to your attention a few cards that work with life:

Other cards of note that do not have a colon code yet are Constantine - Trinity War, and Wonderman - Movie Star. Now, taking some of these cards, you can see why you need to play smart. Drop too low, and the opponent can wipe you out. Stay too high, and your cards that utilize life are useless. Let's look at a couple of combos, shall we?

Aim High

The idea of this combo is to be able to perform various actions by utilizing life, but not dipping too low. An example of this combo would be with the following:

:avx90: and :avx2:

The idea behind this is to pay two life with the silver surfer global to prep a die. Couple this with Beast's ability to gain life upon KO while blocking, and you can stay on the higher side of your life total. Now, to assist this, I would suggest Mr. Fantastic for the force attack global, but that's for another time.

Granted, this method is a bit inefficient. You are effectively paying and taking two damage for one die when cards like resurrection have you pay and prep a die. However, the global on Silver Surfer is likely to be very one-sided. You are coming into the match knowing life is a resource for you. The opponent will need to weigh the option of extra ramp for life, just like you have. The only difference is you prepared for it and helped mitigate it.

Hold The Line

This combo is something that has been stirring in my head for some time now. Basically, this comes down to Silver Surfer (any version will do, but I prefer the uncommon) and Wonderman - Movie Star. For those unaware, the rare Wonderman becomes an Avenger and unblockable when your life dips below 11. The general idea is to ramp using the Silver Surfer global and get as many Wonderman dice out as possible while building a wall to mitigate early attacks. You have five turns of that global before your life dips below 11 assuming your opponent doesn't hit you with something. You would still want a form of life gain as mitigation. Constantine - Trinity War comes to mind on this as he is a shield character which pairs with Silver Surfer's cost and global. Some things to be aware of when taking this route is the potential to get your life above 11. If this happens, then Wonderman becomes a blockable villain again until your life dips below 11 once more.

Ramming Speed!

This combo utilizes one card in particular which is:

Here is the thought on this. Utilize this card and Anger issues to give the Injection Fairy overcrush and 6 extra attack. All for paying 2 life! You can even add some fists in there for an additional pump on the die of your choice. This can be devastating to those who don't see your plan right away. All in all, it could lead to some fun times.

As stated in the title, life is but a resource. Utilizing it correctly often gives you a win condition that tends to be one sided as it is rare that people bring something to mitigate life taken away intentionally. Well, I've taken enough of your time. Thanks for reading and remember to keep rolling!